Tear gas halts Kosovo parliament vote on border deal

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) - Two Kosovar lawmakers were injured Wednesday when the opposition used tear gas several times to disrupt a parliamentary vote on a border demarcation deal with Montenegro.

Lawmakers had to be evacuated from the Assembly building after the Self-Determination Movement party used tear gas in the hall where the vote was due to start. The opposition used tear gas again when the session resumed.

Eight opposition lawmakers involved in setting off the tear gas were barred from taking part in the session when it restarts. Two from the governing coalition were injured by the tear gas.

Opposition leader Albin Kurti said they were determined to stop the vote, which he considered "treason to the country."

The session failed four consecutive times to hold the vote amid the chaos, but Speaker Kadri Veseli insisted it would still take place.

"Today the trauma of the Montenegro border demarcation will end. The vote will be held today," he said.

Enver Hoxhaj of the governing Democratic Party of Kosovo, who is also a deputy prime minister, said they were determined to hold the vote "tonight."

Police entered parliament and forced out a small group of opposition lawmakers, who had refused to leave since the morning. Seven opposition lawmakers were taken to a police station for questioning. It wasn't clear if they were the same lawmakers who were barred from parliament.

Police also carried out detailed searches for every person entering the chamber.

The 120-seat parliament was expected to ratify the 2015 border deal, which was set as a precondition by the European Union for Kosovo's citizens to freely travel within its visa-free travel zone known as Schengen. In order for it to be approved, two-thirds of lawmakers must support it.

The opposition party says the border deal will mean Kosovo loses 8,200 hectares (20,000 acres) of its territory. The previous government and international experts deny that claim.

The opposition party, now divided in two groups because of internal frictions, has used tear gas and similar tactics to disrupt parliament over the past three years.

The collapse of votes for the border demarcation agreement and another proposal seeking to give more rights to the ethnic Serb minority toppled the previous government and took the country to an early election last year.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said they had the votes to pass the deal. But a parliament majority can't be secured unless enough votes are gathered from the opposition ranks.

The ethnic Serb community's Serb List party with 10 seats wasn't present.

President Hashim Thaci, who signed the deal in 2015 when he was foreign minister, denounced "the dangerous tactics of the opponents of the visa liberalization."

Representatives of western powers denounced the use of tear gas and urged the lawmakers to hold the vote in favor of the deal.

Montenegro, which has approved the deal, recognizes Kosovo's 2008 independence from Serbia, which Belgrade still rejects.

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Llazar Semini contributed to this report from Tirana, Albania.